31 drabbles for October
by Mitsuki81
Summary: A series of non-connected drabbles for Tangledtober 2018! (I just forgot to publish them here while I was posting them on AO3! x)) [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1

**Hé hé! Hello there! ^^**

 **So, I know it's a little late, but I put here my own contribution to the Tangledtober 2018! :D**

 **Don't get me wrong, I did it just right in time, I even published one drabble every day for each theme...! But only on AO3. I forgot to publish it here too, here it is! x)**

 **I regroup it into a three part story because I didn't want to make a chapter for each of them ! xD It would have took me too much time!**

 **Still, I hope you'll like them!**

 **(And, as I am not a fluent english speaker, I'm sure there's a lot of mistakes here, so if someone wanted to beta read this, I would gladly take your help! x'))**

 **I own nothing, TTS/RTA belong to their original creators!**

 **Enjoy! o/**

* * *

1\. Origin

Looking up at the burning light of the sun, Gothel let a harsh laugh escape her lips. Who could have thought that such a powerful, burning element could be able to create such a delicate flower?

The Sun might be a soft-hearted being after all.

Still, even if the light of the Sun was a good thing after a long, rude, winter, the woman still preferred the faint glow of the Golden Flower.

As powerful the Sun can be, only the Flower was able to grant her eternal life after all.

And she'll do everything needed to keep this precious gift only for her.

Everything.

2\. Magic

Flynn Rider never believed magic exist. Magic golden flower able to heal illness and hurt? Pah! It was a fairy-tale-thing created only to help fearful children to sleep at night.

As for the Queen? No sense. She just had more chance than other people. She certainly had the best doctors in all the kingdom and she was the Queen, of course, she could be healed.

Not like the other people, those who died in the street every day because they were too poor to pay for a little bit of medicine.

So, even if the crown might mean a lot to the royal family, Flynn didn't give a care. It was his ticket toward freedom. If Royals could only think about themselves time to time, why couldn't he?

Like is tough, after all.

3\. Crew

« _Bre-Breathe! I can't breathe-!_ »

« Rapunzel, you should let him go before you kill him »

« Cassandra's right, Blondie. Let him go before he hates you once more for nearly choking him »

« _He-help!_ »

« Well, I know how to practice a CPR so… »

« You're not helping, Lance. »

« Seriously, Rapunzel I know you're happy that things are better between you and Varian, but that's not a reason to choke him to death »

With some reluctance, the young princess loosened her grip on Varian.

« I know but… » tears gathered at the rim of her lids, « Now that everything is over, I really needed a hug… »

« Me too » murmured Varian, clearing his throat « But can we do it without killing ourselves? »

«Sure! Come on, guys! I want a hug from all of you! »

And a giant hug it was, indeed.

4\. Little

« She's so tiny… » murmured Frederick while holding his newborn girl between his arms.

The child he almost lost a few days earlier.

After the birth, things had gone wild so fast that he didn't truly have the time to have a moment with his newly-extended family (mostly because he had to deal with Quirin and his warnings about the deed he just had made…)

Now, his sleeping daughter was in his arms, alive, and he felt his heart melt while looking at her.

« She is, isn't she ? » murmured Arianna with a soft voice, her head against his shoulder. He kissed her head in returned and let the peaceful feeling settled inside his chest. A peace he hadn't feel since a long time.

Everything was perfect.

5\. Adventure

« Ready to let go? »

Rapunzel let a shuddering breathe escape her lungs, « Are you sure it's safe? »

« You know how to swim ? » a nod, « Then it'll be okay, I know it seems to be quite a fall, but for a few seconds, it's just like if you are flying in the sky » said Eugene with a small smile, « and then, the water feels like a soft cushion… » Looking down at her, Eugene chuckled a little

« You know, for someone who fights against rogues, malefic mother, black rocks, automatons, crazy-birds-guys and I don't know what else, I didn't think you'll be the kind to be afraid of a little jump.»

Her fiancee extended a hand at her, «Together? »

Her own hand fits perfectly in his larger one, « Together »

And so together, they jumped from the cliff toward the water below them, toward their friends who were already waiting for them, a laugh escaping their mouths.

6\. Heal

« Oh no! I'm so, so sorry Pascal! »

The young human girl ran toward her friend, looking at the bad cut that she had accidentally caused. Tears gathered at the rim of her eyes.

« I… I didn't want to… » she murmured, but the chameleon stopped her with a soft cooing noise.

He didn't hold it against her. She was young, and she certainly didn't want to hurt him.

Rapunzel rubbed her eyes before enveloping her little friend in her hair.

Soon enough, the tower was filled with a soft glowing light and the beautiful tone of Rapunzel's young voice singing her secret-healing-song.

7\. Sun

The Sun Goddess always thought that the humankind was a very strange kind of living being. With all their contradictory feelings, values or morals, it marveled her to see that the Humans were able of the purest deed as well as the worst actions she could ever think of.

So, one day, she wondered what would happen if she gave them a gift? A gift from her?

What would they do with it? Will they use it to do good things? Bad things?

If someone ever found it, will they use it only for themselves or share it with others?

The Sun Goddess knew the only way for her to know the answer was to give them something.

And so, she gave them a gift.

One of her tears.

8\. Moon

The Moon God had watched how the gift the Sun had made to the Humankind had influenced the course of actions.

Now things were a little unbalanced, unfortunately.

He sighed.

He could understand his fellow curiosity, but would it have killed her to at least explain to him what she was about to do?

A soft chuckle escaped him. Of course not, the Sun Goddess was free-minded and reckless after all. And it was because of that he loved her so much, despite their obvious differences.

Still, he had to do something to keep the world balanced, so he gave to the Humankind one gift too.

A tear, just like his counterpart.

9\. Alternate Universe

« Who are you, and how do you find me… ? » murmured coldly the boy in front of her.

Rapunzel could only blink in astonishment. He was a few years younger than her, with silver-colored hair and piercing blue eyes, but the most shocking thing about him was the seventy feet of…

 _Wait a second…._

What was all this hair ?! How can someone bear having such a heavy thing attached to their skull?

 _Gosh, Flynn must have put something wrong in my orange juice this morning…_

She just had hoped to find a place to hide after stealing the lost prince's crown and now, she was the prisoner of a strange looking boy ?!

This was just too much for her mind!

The strange boy didn't like her silence, he reaffirmed his hold on his frying pan ( ?!), « I say, who are _you_ and did you find _me_? »

Rapunzel couldn't help herself but say, « What the _hair_ ?! »

/SBAFF !/

10\. Royal

Looking at the balcony in front of her, Rapunzel took a calming breath.

« It's going to be okay, Rapunzel, » said Cassandra in her military uniform next to her, « You're more than ready to step on the throne, you know? »

« I know, it's just… »

« Too soon ? » asked Eugene with a sad smile, « I know it's a difficult period for you, but you can't leave a void place where a ruler should stand… »

« Moreover » added Varian, « We'll all be here to help you and, yeah, even if you still miss them, they're somewhere watching over you, and surely, they're very proud of you.»

A tear escaped her eyes, « Thanks guys… » she murmured before puffing a little up her chest, taking all the inner-queen-grace she had in herself, and stepped on the balcony with, below it, the crowd waiting for their new Queen.

Like so many years ago, she stepped confidently toward her new future.


	2. Chapter 2

11\. Sword

« Wha' yare doing, Dad ? » asked a little voice behind him, and the Captain of the guard turned on his heels, looking down at the big, wide, expectative gray-olive eyes.

He let a chuckle escape his lips, « Well, my dear little Cass, I'm training at sword fighting »

Her mouth took the shape of a perfect 'o' as Cassandra's eyes became even wider.

« That's so cool… » he heard her murmured, and he ruffled her hair with his gloved hand before returning to his training, his daughter watching him in awe.

It didn't surprise him at all when, the next day, he found his six years old child with a stick in her hand, trying to mimic his yesterday's moves.

A smile made its way on his lips as he gave her a wood training sword, the one he had once used as a training weapon when he was younger.

While watching his daughter executing perfectly the basic moves only a few days later, he could help himself but beamed at her with pride and love.

12\. Love/Home

For some people, Home was a place where they could rest. A bed where they could snuggle into, deep under layers and layers of sheets.

Sometimes, it was a specific location, like a seaside coast or a removed mountain.

For other people, Home was where they could truly be themselves, where they could let their imagination roamed free from any convention and just… Being alive.

For a long time, Rapunzel believed Home was in Corona, where her family was. Years before, she thought it was her tower, Mother Gothel and her. Later, traveling was her new definition of home.

But now, she knew she had found what Home truly was.

She let a delighted sigh escaped her lips as she snuggled against Eugene bare chest, inhaling deeply his scent as his arms encircled her naked waist. Their legs were intertwined and on their skin was a thin layer of sweat, the only memory remaining from last night event.

A small smile graced her lips as she felt her husband tightened a little his embrace over her, a soft, happy sigh escaping his own lips.

For Rapunzel, Home was between Eugene's arms.

13\. Song

 **(Huh… This one is maybe very similar to the first one but… I couldn't think of something else, so I hope it's okay ! ^^')**

It was only a legend, a myth, an old riddle written on an ancient piece of parchment.

But the Sun's Golden Flower truly existed, and Gothel just founded it.

She hardly believed her luck, fearing that her time would come to an end before she got the time to ever see a glimpse of it…

But now, now she had all the time she wanted…

She still had some doubts. What if it was a mere coincidence? What if this flower was just a regular flower and not the mystical one?

She could have scold at herself! Wondering about 'what if' would lead her to nowhere!

There was only one way to know if this flower was the Sun's flower.

So, she began to sing.

14\. Fog

Looking around him, Varian thought he has maybe messed up his experimentation this time.

Well, it wasn't as bad as it seemed, just… Fog.

 _A lot of fog_ , in his laboratory. He sighed at himself

' _Well, I must have missed a step in the composition'_

Now, came the hardest part. Finding the window to clear the fog.

How was he going to do without hurting himself in the process? That was a good question, one that even Varian didn't have the answer to.

Two shelves in the elbow, one little toe against the foot of a chair and one flat-face-on-the-ground-after-tripling-against-a-tool later, Varian finally reached the blessed window and open it to clear the fog from his basement.

A few minutes later, his father called him for dinner, and the young boy made quickly his way to the ground floor, the incident quickly dissipating from his mind like the fog he had left behind him.

15\. Forest

Everything was so _green_ … ! Rapunzel struggled to understand how something could be so deep in its color!

She was outside from her tower for the first time in her life and already, she was marveled by all the beautiful things that surrounded her.

Without minding if Flynn was following her or not, she ran toward a deeper part of the forest, feeling the grass slide against her bare feet, enjoying the perfect moment, not knowing if she would ever be able to experiment something this powerful in her life once she'll return to her tower after the lantern's night.a

Maybe this wasn't the good choice to do (Mother would kill her if she ever found out !), but for a fraction of a second, Rapunzel didn't care.

For the first time in her life, she was free!

16\. Celestial

«Dad? »

« Yes, Varian? »

« Do you think angels exist? »

Quirin paused a few moments, wondering why his five years old son was asking him that.

« Well, do you, my son? »

« Hum… » the little boy scratched the back of his head, « I heard once that angels were pure being that watched over the humankind and that some humans could become angels too if they were good enough… »

Quirin frowned a little, « And…? »

« Well, you told me that Mom was a very, very good person before and that she went to heaven when I was two and… » he blushed a little, looking down at his feet, « I was wondering if mom was watching over us as an angel or something… »

« Oh, Varian… » murmured Quirin while taking his son on his laps, hugging him close to his chest, « Of course your Mother watched over you, no matter what. She loved you so much that I'm sure that even with all the miles that separated us, she still looks after you… »

He felt his son nodded against his neck, and Quirin hold him, feeling tears gathered at his eyes while remembering the still-too-painful-memory.

A brush on his mind, an ethereal hand against his cheek-

 _I will always watch over you two, I love you both so much…_

From the corner of his eyes, Quirin caught the glimpse of white feathers, but they disappeared before he had the time to reach a hand out toward them.

17\. Wind

Closing her eyes, Cassandra let the wind kissed her cheeks, letting it soothed her numb body as she rested under an ancient tree.

Maybe she shouldn't have trained so hard these past few days, now that her body remind her quite painfully that she wasn't immune to exhaustion.

Still, it was only in this kind of moment, when her entire being ached from all the exercises that she put herself through, that she could truly enjoy a little nap under a good-old tree, the wind brushing against her face.

A well-deserved rest, indeed.

18\. Dream

Eugene looked softly at Rapunzel.

There, on this little boat, surrounded by the night and hundreds of lantern's light, the girl was the most beautiful view he ever had.

Not only she was beautiful on the outside, but also in the inside.

Her caring nature, her recklessness, a free spirit, her soft voice, her deep emerald eyes, _everything_.

Everything about her was just like something out of a dream.

A dream…

For a long time, Eugene's dream was Flynn's. For long, he thought that what he yearned for was an easy life somewhere far away from Corona, with more money than he could ever dream to have and alone.

But now, now this dream had changed.

Now, he feared the moment he will let this little ray of sunlight disappeared from his life.

Now, he feared to be left alone in the darkness.

Now, all he wanted was to be by Rapunzel's side forever and beyond.

Because now, everything had changed.

She was like a drop of sunlight which had fall into his life.

And Eugene had fallen for her too.

He was in love with this girl, this girl who was his new dream.

When she looked up at him after lifting another lantern, he took her smaller hand in his, hoping to convey her all his unsaid feelings, drowning himself inside her ever-so-green, gleaming eyes.

19\. Nightmare

 **Warning ! Slight depictation of blood/gore stuff here !)**

 _She was running, running away from the danger, from_ her _._

 _« Rapunzel… », a voice murmured, and darkness prevented her from finding where the shadow was hiding._

 _No… No, please!_

 _« Why are you hiding my dear? Don't you want to be with Mommy..? »_

 _«N-No! You're not my Mother! » Rapunzel yelled at the void in front of her, and she felt a cold grip took hold of her wrist._

 _« Now, now, my little flower, what it is with all of this no sense? You belong to me, remember ? » asked her Mother's sweetly-sicked voice while her face appeared from the darkness, revealing a mad look in her eyes._

 _« No ! Y-You… You won't! Eugene will come for me, he'll…! »_

 _Mother Gothel's laugh cut her mid-sentence, « You talk about this pathetic thief? Well, you have to know that he wouldn't be a bother to us anymore… » she continued with a horrible, twisted smile._

 _It was at this moment that she saw blood on her mother face. Looking down at her hand, Rapunzel saw that between a deathly grip was Eugene's chopped head-_

«Rapunzel! Wake up! »

A cry died on her lips. Her throat felt hoarse and in the dim light of a candle, Rapunzel could see her husband's worried face, his hand brushing lovingly her cheek.

She cried in his chest as he drew soothing circles in her back, murmuring her soft words in her ear until she fell back to sleep once more, feeling safe in Eugene's loving embrace, lulled by the steady beat of his heart.


	3. Chapter 3

20\. Sweet

Eugene leaned against the wall, quickly followed by Cassandra, as they watched the unusual scene unfolding before their eyes.

There were Rapunzel and Varian, literally bouncing on those said walls, laughing their heart out, running after each other and doing childish games.

Lance joined them and nearly was knocked to the ground by Rapunzel's foot if Cassandra didn't stop him.

« What you guys gave them to eat ? » he asked as he watched the two younger people of their group playing around.

Eugene made a movement toward an empty jar, « They found where we were hiding the sweets for Halloween, and now they are in this state. »

Lance shook his head fondly, « That's kind of cute, to see what sugar do to them… »

Cassandra laughed a little, « Yeah, but they'll regret it soon enough. Wonder how long it will be before they fall from exhaustion, though… »

21\. Glow

« Shhh, Pascal, Mother is sleeping… » murmured a young girl with blond hair reaching the ground at a little green chameleon on her shoulder.

Carefully, she made her way down the stair, passing the open door of her Mother's room, and quickly walked toward the closed window. Opening it and pushing the shutters apart, the eight years old girl looked at the night sky, hoping to see the glowing light that raised in the sky each year, at her birthday.

 _There_!

Kissing the horizon was the first light, following by many, many others.

Leaning on her arms, Rapunzel let a delighted sigh escaped her lips, the chameleon on her shoulder cooing in her ear.

« This is beautiful, don't you think Pascal? »

She smiled a little,

« One day, I'll ask Mother to take me to see them… »

After all, it might be an amazing view to see all those glowing light from the place they were launched, right?

22\. Walls

Rapunzel watched the bare walls of the bedroom.

 _Her_ bedroom.

Everything had been so crazy lately. Two days ago, she was living in a tower in the forest, and now, she was the long-lost-princess of an entire country.

… _This walls felt so foreign to her._

She didn't know this place, those rooms, those stretching halls, those people who claimed to be her parents…

Everything was so new, so unknown… She was _afraid_.

Well, not as afraid as she was the last hours she spent in the tower, with her maniac moth- with Gothel.

Her open eyes looked at the bare walls in the light of the moon, and Rapunzel decided she didn't like them that way.

So, she enlighted a candle, took a paintbrush with purple painting and began to paint.

It took her a little more than ten minutes, but in the end, she had put a little of herself on the wall, the one in front of her when she laid on her bed.

Now, those walls weren't as bare as they seemed.

It felt a little more like home to her now.

Soon enough, sleep claimed her mind and she drifted into Morpheus's arms.

23\. Chill

The winter air left a cold, chilling feeling against his skin, but Quirin didn't care.

In his arms was the sleeping form of his young son as the coffin in front of him was brought down into the earth, taking his dear wife away from him.

The winter had last a little longer than usual, and Maria's disease didn't go away the way the doctor had said it would.

Frozen tears were on his cheek, the cool, chilling air of the afternoon surrounding him, but Quirin didn't care.

Half of his soul had been taken away from him, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to ever feel warm again…

Varian moved into his arm, snuggling deeper into his chest, breaking Quirin out of his depressed state.

He blinked several times at his son's sleeping face and something bloomed into his chest.

No, he couldn't let this defeated him. He still had someone to look after, and he was sure his late-wife wouldn't like to see him abandoned their son like that.

So, he hugged Varian closer to his chest, protecting him from the chilling winter air, swearing at his wife's tombstone he would ever look after their treasure.

24\. Mirror

Putting her hand against the cool surface of the mirror, Rapunzel hardly believed what she saw.

In front of her was a reflection of her pose, but it wasn't her, it was someone else. A boy a little younger than her, looking at her with big blue eyes. For an odd reason, she thought that already saw him somewhere before, but it was a faint feeling in the back of her mind.

Just like something out of a dream.

She didn't say anything, only looked at him as he stared back.

A familiar feeling settled inside her chest, and she smiled shyly at him, seeing him smile at her in return.

« My name is Rapunzel, » she said

« My name is …» answered the boy, but she couldn't hear his name.

Her hand superposed his, their palm, as well as their position being the perfect reflection of the other.

Rapunzel didn't know how long they stayed this way, but when her Mother ran into her bedroom, someone came behind the strange boy too.

Her Mother yelled and grasp her by the wrist, breaking the contact with the mirror. In the reflection, she could see that an older man had taken the boy by the shoulder, taking him away from the cool surface. They hands lost contact and the next moment, her own reflection was the only thing she could see in the mirror.

25\. Storm

« Hugh… It's really bad out there… » murmured Cassandra while sitting down on a chair facing the window.

« Yeah, and it's in this moment that I'm happy to be inside… » chuckled softly Rapunzel, a cup of hot chocolate between her hands, « Still, I wondered how Eugene is doing, he was talking about this trip in the forest since a long time… »

Cassandra laughed her head off, « Man, I hope the rain will cool down a little his head! He's so stressed recently that he's even more annoying than I thought a human could ever be! »

« Don't be so mean Cassandra, you know why he's acting this way… » answered Rapunzel while running a hand on her swollen belly, a dreamy smile on her lips.

« Still, I don't if I'll be able to stand him for one more month ! » the sound of a thunder would be heard in the distance, « Man, they really chose the wrong day to go on their trip… »

Rapunzel only shrugged, sipping her hot drink.

26\. Cemetery

« That's… Strange to be here alone this time… »

In front of an old, old man was three tombstone. The one in the middle was the most recent one,

' _In memory of a beloved Queen, may her spirit watch over us all like the Sun which looks after the Earth.'_

 _Queen Rapunzel, June the 21st 1XXX – May the 17th 1XXX_

With shaking movements, the man put down a yellow and purple flower bouquet on it, tears slipping from his piercing blue eyes.

« I… Never thought that I'll see the day where you'll leave this world, but then again, I'm sure you reunited with Eugene, Cassandra and your parents now… »

He closed his eyes, his face tilted toward the sky, « You're happy now, I suppose? I'm glad for you, now you find your happiness once again… You had lost the gleam in your eyes those last few months, you know ?»

Varian chuckled hollowly, « That strange to think that all those years back I wished you to suffer… So much had happened since then… And now I'm left alone on this Earth while all my friend leave me behind… »

More tears escaped the rim of his lids, « Then again, I always was one step behind you all, I was the younger one, the last one to forgive, the last one to become an adult… So, I suppose it's normal for me to be the last one to go, right? »

Standing up from his kneeling position, the ninety-four years old man leaned heavily on his cane, « And still, I have the feeling that my time won't come before a few years yet… I hope you'll be all waiting for me, wherever you are all… »

He stepped back a little, and with a small smile, said, « I love you all so very much… I'll see you very soon, with more flowers, I promise. »

And on those words, the old man walked away from the cemetery.

27\. Ghost

 **(This one is based on the ghost AU from the tangled discord! ^^ (which resulted from the impaled AU, but it's a long story ! XD I can't remember who is the one who created it, though, so if someone could tell me ! ^^'')**

It was a strange feeling for him, to be a ghost.

Time just… Flowed upon him like water while he slid across the empty halls of Corona castle.

Why he was stuck here in this limbo? He had no idea, and even if he had resented Rapunzel for a long time for this (after all, she was the one who lost control on the black rocks which pierced his heart all those years ago), now, well, he felt empty.

How long it had been? Rapunzel wasn't a late-teenage girl anymore. Now, she was a woman, a Queen, a Mother.

Speaking of which, a five-year-old boy was coming in his direction. It was the middle of the night, and he was crying. The ghost felt bad for him, knowing that the heir had frequent nightmare those last few weeks, but unfortunately, the late-alchemist still hadn't found a way to help him.

The young child finally reached his parent's door and, after knocking at the wood, open it a little.

«Mommy? »

There was the sound of ruffled sheet and, a few seconds later, Rapunzel was there, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

« Yes, my love ? » she asked

« I… I had another one » sobbed finally the young child « It-It was horrible, there was a monster eating people, and- »

« Shhh… It's okay now » said the woman to her child while taking him in her arms, « It's okay now, Varian, I'm right here for you, so don't you worry… »

The ghost had a bittersweet smile hearing the name. When the child was born, he had been there and hearing Rapunzel called her first bor child that way had removed all remanent of hatred that had been left in his very soul.

There was a secret Varian kept in his phantomatic heart.

He knew perfectly why he was still stuck in this limbo, even after all those years, but that was something he wouldn't tell to anyone.

He will look after them until he truly could leave this place behind him and reached the eternal light, where he could rest in peace for all eternity.

But… Just not today.

28\. Costumes

«There! Now it's finished! » said proudly a brunette with green years while holding a black fabric in front of her.

« What are you talking about, Rapunzel ? » asked another girl to her right who has her nose stuck on her laptop's screen

« My Halloween costume! Now its ready for Wednesday's party ! » she folded the said costume against her chest, a silly smile on her lips, « And yours, Cassandra? »

The other girl only shrugged, « I bought mine last week in town. »

Rapunzel pouted at her, « You're not funny, what's the point of buying a costume, after all? »

« Well… » said the girl still facing her laptop screen, « Not everyone has as much free time as you, you know ? » she shook her head, « Well that and the fact that sewing is not truly my thing so… »

Rapunzel smiled at her, « Well, I just hope this party will be a great one, then! »

Cassandra chuckled a little, « I hope it will too, but then again, it's Lance who organizes it this time, so I truly don't know what to expect… »

Rapunzel hummed in agreement. After a few seconds, she asked nonchalantly, « Do you think that Eugene will be here too? »

Cassandra looked sharply at her, then her eyes became wider than saucers seeing the light blush on her friend's cheeks.

She began to laugh.

« Oh, shut up! » Yelled Rapunzel at her good naturally while sending a pillow straight to her laughing friend's head.

29\. Monster

Shaking, Rapunzel hand grasped Eugene's while they stepped back from the horrible scene unfolding in front of them.

With Cassandra, Lance, Hook foot and Shorty, they had found the dark kingdom, they had unfolded the terrible truth about it, about the black rocks, about the Sun and the Moon Drop…

But they weren't careful enough, and now, Zhan Tiri had taken control of half of the Seven Kingdoms land.

It was a matter of time before this _monster_ destroyed everything in his wake.

How could they face such a disaster? Everything was in chaos, who knew how long it will be before death claimed its hold on their soul ?

Rapunzel began to cry.

« It's… It's all my fault… Everything… Because of my mistake… »

« No, don't you dare say that, blondie » hushed Eugene's while holding close to his chest, « You couldn't know, and no one will hold it against you.. » with one of his thumbs, he wiped away her tears, « Now, we should think about a way to fix things … »

« And how ? _How_ are we going to stop this monster … ? » asked Rapunzel with a broken voice,

« I may have a solution… » said suddenly a voice behind the pair, who turned sharply on their heels, not believing what they saw.

 _But I saw him fall to his death with my own eyes!_

There, looking as if he had walked through hell, a racoon on his shoulder, a stick they never saw before in one hand, a book in the other, as well as an heavy alchemist coat on his back, a young boy they knew too well stood there, a smile on his lips, his blue eyes glowing under his dark, tangled hair covering his face,

« Now then, your Highness is not the time to give up! We'll need you to fight against Zhan Tiri, there's still hope! And we _will_ need you to fight this Monster which is currently tearing our kingdom apart! »

« Varian… » gasped Rapunzel, another tear rolling down her dirty cheek.

30\. Haunt

Alone in his cell, Varian reflected about what had happened in the last few hours.

The flower, the automatons, Rudiger, the Queen, the amber, his anger, his pain, his treason…

A mess of feeling was making its way in his chest as one sentence began to ring loudly in his head.

 _Your fault! Your fault! Your fault!_

No ! He- He wasn't wrong! He had no choices! Rapunzel, the kingdom, everyone had turned their back on him! They-!

 _Don't you think that you are ignoring the problem?_ Asked a vicious voice in a corner of his mind, sounding horribly like his father's, and Varian clasped his hands on his ears to cut it out.

 _No_! He thought helplessly, _No I…! I didn't want to…! I just wanted to free my father! They left me no- It has to be this way!_

 _You're wrong, you miserable young boy, spat the voice in his head, It was your fault if your father was caught in the amber! It was your fault if you weren't good enough for them to consider you as a friend! It's your fault if your own mother leaves you behind, you and your father-ME !, all those years ago…!_

Now, Varian had no doubt, it was Quirin's voice he heard.

 _Everything, EVERYTHING was always YOUR FAULT! EVERYTHING IS your FAULT!_

Varian yelled in desperation in his cell, madness taking hold of his mind as grief and guilt consumed all his body. The guards keeping him in his cell could only watch with hopelessness the young boy fall deeper and deeper into craziness.

Hours later, what was only left of the young boy was an empty shell, one sentence escaping his lips endlessly

« My fault, my fault, my fault… »

31\. Lanterns

« At three? »

« Fine with me »

« With me too »

« As you wish, your highness »

« As long it's with you, blondie »

« Okay, then, One! Two! Three ! » said cheerfully Rapunzel, lifting her lantern while her friends do the same with their own.

They were quickly followed by hundreds and hundreds of others, but those first lanterns had a special place in her heart.

They were the first lanterns they launched as a family together.

She felt Eugene (newly her husband) put an arm around her waist, kissing her short brown hair as, from the corner of her eyes she saw Cassandra, Varian (both in uniform, the Guard's and Royal Alchemist's respectively) joking with Lance while gazing at the night sky enlighted by all the lanterns.

She was happy.

After many, many trials, treasons, and mended trust, everything was for the best now.

Now, she could look toward the future with a bright, hopeful look.

Because she knew that from now one, everything will be alright.

It was a promise she made to herself.


End file.
